Grant Nupen 2001 - 2002: Establishing the Vision
In April 2001, Grant Nupen arrived in Cape Town to take up the role of Principal. He had been successful as Head of St Albans, and he arrived with several advantages in his favour. First, he was well steeped in the independent school environment; he had been a Principal of both small and big schools; he had standing in the wider Bishops community through his parents-in-law, Joan and Herbe Selfe, both of whom were absolute icons of the Bishops community; and his patrician appearance and bearing immediately gave him the aura of control. On 3 May 2001, the formal ceremony of Installation into his position was carried out in the presence of all the staff and the boys in the Memorial Chapel by Bishop Christopher Gregorowski. At the same time, James McGregor was commissioned as Chairman of Council.
There was a certain apprehension among the various constituencies as to how this appointment would work out, after the difficulties of the Watson years, but these were soon allayed.
One of the first matters to be addressed was to secure, together with the school executive, the buy-in by the school and its community for a new vision and strategy for his Principalship. Clive Watson had appreciated the need for the school to have an articulated Vision and he had crafted a number of vision statements to this effect. However, these had not been accepted or acted on by the school, mainly because of a sense that they had been imposed from above. It was clear that a different approach was needed to achieve a comprehensive vision and strategy. Almost co-incidently, Grant was approached by a parent, Bridget Woods, who explained the techniques of Appreciative Inquiry. AI is an approach that organizations can use to bring about positive change through specific steps which focus on the strengths rather than the weaknesses of the organization. When the executive was briefed on this approach, they decided that a conference should be held which would involve the entire community of the school, run on the Appreciative Inquiry approach, from which a school vision and attendant strategies could emerge.
The gathering was called the 2010 Conference, and was held in the Mallett Centre in September, days after the 9/11 attacks in New York. Apart from an impressive list of outside speakers, (Prof Kader Asmal, the National Minister of Education, Helen Zille, the MEC for education in the Western Cape, Jane Hofmeyr Director of ISASA, Michael Kahn, Advisor to the Minister of Education), the central activity of the conference was the full participation by all 350 people present in the four-step process of Appreciative Inquiry. Invitations had been sent out to the entire Bishops family, and among those who took up the invitation were Council members, staff members, old boys, parents, and boys at the school. One of the observations made by Helen Zille referred to Clem Sunter’s ‘Gilded Cage’ vs ‘Friendly Planet’ scenario, part of his commentary on the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York. The participants grasped fully the parallels between the attitude of the USA and Bishops with regard to the school’s ‘Gilded Cage’ situation, and the clear necessity of adopting the ‘Friendly Planet’ mindset. Two moving moments of the conference – the first was seeing a Grade 8 newboy discussing with the Chairman of Council what his views of Bishops were; the other was the moment one of the headmasters of the black schools who had sent their best pupils to Bishops on the scholarship scheme that John Peake had created, pleading with the school to honour Peake’s vision.
James McGregor, Chairman of Council, referred to the 2010 Conference in his Prizegiving address. “I believe that this was a major turning point in the life of Bishops. It was an extraordinary event: it was exceptionally bold, and it was even more challenging. But it has released an amazing energy into the school. There is a buzz about Bishops as Action Committees tackle huge agendas and flood the school with new ideas. It is clear that the results are going to be felt for years to come. It is surely a very exciting time to be at Bishops. What distinguished 2010 from anything else we have done at Bishops was the involvement of such a wide representation of the Bishops community. Our parents turned out in force, as did the staff & ODs; but I was particularly pleased with the active participation of 40 boys who could have chosen to go to the beach, but instead opted to take part in 2010.”
There was an extraordinary alignment of all the key groupings in the school around the outcomes of the Conference – Council, the school, the ODs, and the parents, and this unleashed a surge of innovation and energy that dramatically propelled the school forward.
In the months following the Conference, Action Groups met under executive leadership to fashion how the activities suggested at the Conference would be introduced to the school’s programmes. These Action Groups were listed as: Religious and Spiritual; Learning, Teaching and Technology; Pastoral Care; Sport and Health; Cultural; Staffing; Community Development; Old Diocesans; Council; Public Relations and Marketing; and Finance and Funding.
To ensure the harnessing of this energy, Marcus Bizony was appointed Vice-principal Academic and Stuart West was appointed as the newly created Vice-principal Pastoral. Shirley Lamb was appointed Assistant Vice-principal Culture. To manage the business opportunities and to direct funding initiatives, Philip Wheeler was appointed as General Manager. The Action groups met and produced outlines and schedules of what changes needed to be brought about. There was constant reporting to the school community of what was taking place, through the magazine and in briefing sessions to which all were invited. Attention was given to what were termed ‘quick wins’ and the introduction of these small changes created ongoing interest, as well as initiating some of the real gains from the Conference deliberations.
And while this was going on, the regular features of school life continued even more fully than previously. The Eisteddfod happened, school plays were staged, the a cappella singing group, Simply Blue, was formed and became popular immediately. Debating achievements, art exhibitions, music events proliferating, while in classrooms, the laptop project was expanding as more and more boys joined. The sports programme remained as full as ever – a rugby tour to Australasia, the Astroturf vitalising hockey in a new way, and the full spectrum of sports was again on offer.
In his Prizegiving address, Nupen talked about the plans for 2002 – improvement to the Music school, a new dayboy house, an Art and Technology centre, and a sport academy. He went on to say; “What is clear, however, is that the staff, the boys, the parents and the Old Boys have agreed to seek a new vision. That emerging vision is one where we shake off the images of the past of exclusivity, elitism and superiority. We seek now a new future as a South African school in a non-racial democratic country, where in the context of globalisation and rapid change, we aim to build a school which preserves the excellence and essence of the past and aims in 2010 to be a world-class school, a global education network, living the life of Christ, by opening its resources, talents, heritage, mind, heart and soul to produce South Africa’s future leaders.”
Ganzekraal
At the start of 2002, the teaching staff of all three schools were invited to a bridge-building exercise at the small West Coast resort called Ganzekraal, an innovation which was warmly received by the teachers. While Clive Watson had usually held a pre-term break-away with the executive and the Housemasters, Grant decided that, for the first time, all the academic staff should gather for a time of staff development, or team building, or just simple planning. The planned activities included a team building exercise, a formal banquet (in fancy dress), discussions on leadership styles, and reactions to the 2010 Conference, separate school pre-planning sessions, as well as departmental preparations. Significant gains from this event included enthusiastic staff attitudes and commitment to the strategic planning that followed the conference, as well as the surge in excitement and commitment among the staff to take the school forward on 2010 principles.
Generating the Vision
OUR VISION
Bishops, Cape Town, an African school, aspires to:
• Live the Christian faith in the Anglican tradition, humbly and courageously.
• Inspire individuals to open their minds and reach their dreams.
• Offer a world class all-round education where each person is respected and valued.
• Embrace and celebrate diversity in our community.
One of the key objectives of the conference was to generate a Vision Statement based on the governing principles and outcomes of the 2010 Conference. These governing principles were: serving South Africa, celebrating inclusiveness, welcoming diversity, nurturing the needs of the individual, in a spirit of openness and honesty. The expanded executive workshop considered the attributes of the school, its traditions, and reputation of achievement, its dedicated and creative staff, and being based in the Western Cape. The school has a beautiful and well-resourced campus, active and supportive networks, financial stability, is church based and was established by an Act of Parliament. Certain benefits were associated with the school. It offered an all-round education, in a stable and nurturing environment, with huge opportunities for individual development in a stimulating culture of learning. Attending Bishops provided mutually sustaining bonds and life-long networking to the many independent and progressive thinkers. The school operated within a pyramid of values and could be regarded as having a distinctive personality of its own. To bring this all together, the group came up with a Vision Statement to guide the school through the next years ahead, and a tagline of “Bishops Inspires Individuals”, and a Mission Statement which directed the school over the next ten years. The Vision Statement affirmed the worth of focusing on the individual.
